A Compiled Poem

My day flew by today! A great feeling.

Started a pet project of my own. About words. Poetry mainly. Collage-y too. Old and new. And the Female, of course.

It’s been on my mind intermittently for nearly a decade now. So, today’s mainly been about blowing the cobs off the webs, bringing them back to life, then seeing where they’ll take me on their eight legs. Finding inspiration all around me, I hasten to add gratefully: talented friends, uncomfortable experiences and my bookshelves full of sizzling wordsmithery.

One such book is Striking Root — a collection of poems by Ifigenija Simonović. A Slovenian born poet who lives in London and works as a potter in Covent Garden. Or so told me lovely Tony Rudolf who translated the poems in English and published them. He also thought I’d like them and gave me a copy. Oh boy was he right! There aren’t many books I go back to often but this one is it. So crisp are her words. So simple. So true. I can never tire of them.

Ifigenija together with Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath and Elena Ferrante would be honoured to be sharing a page my personal choice of mighty wordsorcereresses — my friends Olja,Tee and Kerry. And forever grateful to me, of course, for bringing them together.

The poem that follows is what these seven amazing women sound like when they come together:

PILE HER UP

(a word compilation poem)

I was broke as a yawn,
A breathing woman
Alone. Speaking inside my head.

Dragged away
To my present
Living hell.

I look through the keyhole
And I cannot even
Tell if it’s empty
My kitchen sink-cum-alleyway.

Hot and cold taps running simultaneously.
Like my water-diet.

Stopping surprised
I’ve dropped my brain
Into a brand new shape.
A small monument to insanity.

I am dead, but I’m fine.

Writing for fun and pain
Straight from the heart.
Clutching my bottle
Of pink fizz.

Do something.
Or I’m moving to Tyrol. I already have the dress.

CREDITS GO TO:

Olja R-Knezevic lines 1, 16, 22 & 23
Emily Dickinson lines 2 & 14
Ifigenija Simonovic lines 3, 7, 8 & 9
Tee S Francis lines 3, 4, 5 & 9
Kerry-Fleur Schleifer lines 11, 12, 13, 15 & 18
Elena Ferrante line 17
Sylvia Plath lines 19, 20 & 21